For mobile terminals such as mobile phones, various input apparatuses used by users to operate the terminals have been developed according to functions and usages of each of the terminals. In many cases, an input apparatus has mechanical keys or buttons arranged in advance on a surface of a body such that a user performs an input operation by directly pressing a finger or the like to the keys.
The mechanical keys (for example, a numerical keypad) of the input apparatus of the terminal are normally arranged in advance to suit a main usage of the terminal. Accordingly, it is generally not possible to change a physical arrangement of keys, once defined, later.
Recently, a variety of functions are incorporated in small mobile terminals. For example, the mobile phones have a digital camera function and a music player function. There are mobile terminals such as a mobile phone having numerous supplementary functions incorporated therein in addition to a function for a main usage of the terminal, and PDA (Personal Digital Assistant: mobile information terminal) having, as a single terminal, a plurality of main usages such as schedule management, an address book and the like. If such terminals have keys fixedly arranged, it may inconvenience the user significantly in using particular functions.
In order to resolve such inconvenience, there is disclosed an input apparatus having a touch panel designed such that a transparent input unit is arranged overlapping a front face of a liquid crystal display constituting a display unit (for example, see Patent Document 1). The input apparatus having such a touch panel is generally configured such that, when a graphical image of operation keys or buttons displayed on a display screen of the touch panel is pressed, the input unit at a corresponding position receives an input.
A folding mobile phone described in the above Patent Document 1 can display keys arranged arbitrarily on the display screen of the touch panel to receive operation inputs by the user, and thus key arrangements can be designed as desired. That is, this mobile phone provides an excellent operability as capable of changing the arrangement of the keys to suit a function of the terminal when each function of the terminal is switched. For example, when the user uses the digital camera function incorporated in the mobile phone, this mobile phone displays an operation unit for a digital camera on the touch panel and receives operation inputs. On the other hand, when the user inputs characters to create a message and the like, this mobile phone displays a keyboard like a personal computer (PC) on the touch panel and receives inputs. As stated above, this mobile phone having the touch panel can optimize a single input apparatus to suit each of a plurality of functions and receive operation inputs.
In addition, since the input apparatus having the touch panel receives an input in the form of a user's direct contact (touch) of a finger or the like to the graphical image (of the key or the button) displayed on the display unit, the user can operate it highly intuitively. That is, the user operates the input apparatus by directly touching the key or the button displayed on the screen with a finger or the like following a guide displayed on the screen of the touch panel. Accordingly, the user can control the terminal extremely easily through intuitive operations following the guide displayed on the screen, which even offers an effect to reduce erroneous operations as a result.
In recent years, the mobile terminal having the touch panel as stated above enables the user not only to make a normal telephone call and to perform operation inputs for creating a message but also to perform operation inputs to view (browse) contents delivered through the internet and websites. In addition, the input apparatuses having the touch panel are commonly used for not only the mobile terminals but also, for example, ATMs (Automatic Teller Machines) of a bank and the like and ticket vending machines at train stations. Moreover, in stores such as fast-food shops, terminal equipment with the input apparatus having the touch panel as above is used by a clerk to process orders from customers. When the touch panel is employed as the input apparatus, the mechanical buttons and keys such as a keyboard are not essential components any more. Accordingly, since only a small area is required to arrange mechanical buttons and the like on the terminal apparatus, it enables downsizing of overall terminal apparatus. Therefore, it offers a broader choice of installation sites of the terminal apparatus in stores and train stations.
In addition, the touch panel employed as an input apparatus eliminates necessity of separately having a display unit for displaying various information and an input unit for receiving operation inputs by the user as individual function units like a general design of conventional apparatus, and enables to configure the information display unit and the input unit on the same screen. Accordingly, it is possible, for example, to display keys of a keyboard on the touch panel for receiving an input by the user while displaying a result of the input near the keyboard on the touch panel. Thereby, the user can perform an operation input and confirm the result of the input on the same screen.
As described above, the touch panel provides merits to enable to configure the input unit and the display unit on the same screen and also to enable intuitive operation inputs. For that reason, the number of various terminal apparatuses having such input apparatus has been increased more and more.
However, the input apparatus with the touch panel has a specific problem because of its configuration to have the input unit and the display unit on the same screen and to receive the intuitive operation input. The problem is that, if timing for the terminal to receive the operation input through the touch panel does not match timing for the user to actually perform the operation input to the touch panel, the terminal may receive an operation input unintended by the user.
For example, it is considered a case, as shown in FIG. 9(A), in which a numerical keypad for receiving operation input is displayed on the touch panel 300 by a message creation function of the mobile phone and a result of the input is displayed in a display area in an upper area of the touch panel 300. FIG. 9(A) shows a state in which the user touches (performs a pressure input to) the numerical keypad on the touch panel 300 and thereby characters “I will be heading very soon . . . ” are displayed. At this point, since the user has not finished creating the message yet, the user tries to continue an input operation by touching the numerical keypad on the touch panel 300. It is to be noted that, since it is a conventional art known as a “multi-tap input method” to input each character in a message using a numerical keypad of a mobile terminal, such as the mobile phone, by transiting kana characters associated with each key according to the number of input times of the key, a description thereof is omitted.
If the mobile phone receives an incoming call with its telephone function while receiving input of characters in the message as stated above, the touch panel 300 of the mobile phone displays a screen as shown in FIG. 9(B). In this manner, it is general to display information such as a reception of an incoming call or a message that requires immediacy in an interrupting manner on a screen currently in use, even when another function such as the message creation function is being used. It may be considered that, at the moment that the user tries to touch the touch panel 300 to input a next character in the message in a state shown in FIG. 9(A), the display of the touch panel 300 is changed to an incoming call screen as shown in FIG. 9(B). In this case, the user may touch a spot, where the user intended to touch before the display is changed, immediately after the display is changed.
For example, in creating the message shown in FIG. 9(A), if the display is changed to the incoming call screen shown in FIG. 9(B) at the moment that the user tries to touch a key “6 (Ha)” on the touch panel 300, the user may touch a “Reject” key on the touch panel 300 shown in FIG. 9(B). Accordingly, it results in rejecting the incoming call by the user unintentionally even if it was call from a person with whom the user needs to talk.
In addition, in creating the message shown in FIG. 9(A), if the display is changed to the incoming call screen shown in FIG. 9(B) at the moment that the user tries to touch a key “4 (Ta)” on the touch panel 300, the user may touch an “Answer” key on the touch panel 300. Accordingly, it results in answering the incoming call by the user unintentionally even if it was a call from a person with whom the user does not wish to talk.
Similar cases may happen not only when receiving an incoming call but also when receiving a message. For example, if the mobile terminal receives a new message while creating another message, the display may be changed to a screen for selecting whether to open the new message received at the moment that the user tries to input a next character. In such a case, the user may unintentionally perform an operation to open the new message, resulting in opening Spam (nuisance message).
In addition, for example, a pop-up advertisement may be displayed in an interrupting manner on the touch panel 300 as shown in FIG. 9(D) when a user views an internet website by using a web browser function of the mobile phone as shown in FIG. 9(C). The web browser function enables jump to a corresponding page or website in response to a touch (pressure input) to underlined characters by the user. In this case, the pop-up advertisement shown in FIG. 9(D) may be displayed at the moment that the user tries to touch characters “Transfer Guide” displayed on the touch panel 300 shown in FIG. 9(C). As a result, the user unintentionally touches the pop-up advertisement.
It is reported recently that there is so-called phishing which prompts the user to access a fraudulent website from a malicious pop-up display or advertisement. Accordingly, it may penalize the user because of an unintended operation input to such pop-up display and the like.
In operation of the personal computers (PC), unlike the mobile terminals, it is possible to perform operation input to small keys and buttons displayed on a relatively large display screen (monitor) by using an input device such as a mouse. In this case, a display area of objects such as the keys and the buttons and that of the pop-up advertisement are relatively small in comparison to an entire display screen. Accordingly, even if the objects such as the keys and the buttons and the pop-up advertisement are suddenly displayed on the display screen, the probability for them to overlap an object the user intended to input may be low.
As for the mobile terminal, however, since portability is valued, the display screen is limited in size and thus the touch panel in a large size is not normally mounted. In addition, in consideration of the operability, objects such as keys and buttons displayed on the touch panel cannot be too small. Accordingly, in case of the mobile terminal, it is a prominent problem that an interrupting object, suddenly displayed on the touch panel, overlaps another object to which the user intends to input.
In order to avoid a risk to receive an unintended input from the user as stated above, there is suggested an input apparatus capable of switching validation/invalidation of an operation by the touch panel (for example, see Patent Document 2). A shown in FIG. 10(A), the Patent Document 2 discloses an input apparatus 100 having a touch panel 310 with an input unit 340 on top of a display unit 320.